Conclusion
The fact is that in worship, Ali (a.s.) was a monotheist and he worshipped
God with perfect faith for seven years before the people and performed prayers.
If you want, you should remain amazed, come and read the statement of
Dhahabi in Talkhisul Mustadrak,1 when he says:
“From the beginning, when divine revelation was received by the Prophet,
Khadija, Abu Bakr, Bilal, Zaid embraced faith some hours before or some hours
after him and worshipped God with the Prophet. Then where are those seven
years of worship, during which Ali is said to have prayed alone?”
Allamah Amini says: These seven years are definite, but where are the
‘hours’ of Dhahabi? Who has mentioned this? When was created one, who claims
thus? Where is he? From what source has he quoted? Which reporter has narrated
it? And before this2 we quoted from Saheeh Bukhari that Abu Bakr embraced
Islam after fifty persons.3 As if this man is a Bedouin and remote from history of
Islam, or he knows, but has issued baseless statements and he is fond of lying.
As for nine years
It is possible that it implies two years of ‘Fatara’ (time gap) from the time of
declaration of prophethood till the daily prayer became obligatory?
In the end, we remind that basically in such issues the base is proximity and
time of exact occurrence, just as during conversation such usage is customary;
from this aspect all these possibilities are correct and without any contradiction.
5. False statement five
He mentions the tradition of giving of ring in alms (Sadaqah) by Ameerul
Momineen (a.s.) during genuflection, after which the following verse was
revealed:
إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُۥ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَهُمْ رَٰكِعُونَ (٥٥)
“Only Allah is your Guardian and His Apostle and those who believe, those who keep up prayers and pay the poor-rate while they bow.”4
Then he says:5 This tradition is not authentic from any aspect, because its
chains of authorities are weak and basically, no verse is revealed specifically for
Ali. Traditional reports, which say that the verses:
إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُنذِرٌۭ ۖ وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٍ (٧)
“You are only a warner and (there is) a guide for every people.”6
And
وَيُطْعِمُونَ ٱلطَّعَامَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِۦ مِسْكِينًۭا وَيَتِيمًۭا وَأَسِيرًا (٨)
“And they give food out of love for Him to the poor and the orphan and the captive:”7
And the verse:
أَجَعَلْتُمْ سِقَايَةَ ٱلْحَآجِّ وَعِمَارَةَ ٱلْمَسْجِدِ ٱلْحَرَامِ كَمَنْ ءَامَنَ بِٱللَّهِ وَٱلْيَوْمِ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِ
“What! do you make (one who undertakes) the giving of drink to the pilgrims and the guarding of the Sacred Mosque like him who believes in Allah and the latter day.”8
…etc. were revealed for Ali, are all inauthentic.
Reply to false statement five
كَبُرَتْ كَلِمَةًۭ تَخْرُجُ مِنْ أَفْوَٰهِهِمْ ۚ إِن يَقُولُونَ إِلَّا كَذِبًۭا (٥)
“A grievous word it is that comes out of their mouths; they speak nothing but a lie.”9
How does he claim that its chains of authorities are weak, and decides that the verse of:
إِنَّمَا وَلِيُّكُمُ ٱللَّهُ وَرَسُولُهُۥ وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَيُؤْتُونَ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَهُمْ رَٰكِعُونَ (٥٥)
“Only Allah is your Guardian and His Apostle and those who believe, those who keep up prayers and pay the poor-rate while they bow.”10
…was not revealed specifically for Ali (a.s.)? Whereas he has himself stated in his Tafseer11
from authorities of Ibne Marduya from Kalabi that he says: “There
is no doubt in this chain”, and the tradition of Abu Saeed Ushaj Kufi (d. 257 A.H.), which he has quoted that its narrators are trustworthy.
In this book, we shall inform you of the sources where the circumstances of revelation of this verse are mentioned.12
Regarding the verse:
إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُنذِرٌۭ ۖ وَلِكُلِّ قَوْمٍ هَادٍ (٧)
“You are only a warner and (there is) a guide for every people.”13
It is narrated from the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.a.)14 that he said: I am the warner
and you, O Ali, is the guide